The symbol of Saint Gióng and the Gióng festival in the historical context of Vietnam
Asian Education and Development Studies
ISSN: 2046-3162
Article publication date: 17 September 2019
Issue publication date: 6 January 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to trace the way in which a popular ritual became one of Vietnam’s most important festivals, elevated as a celebration of national heroism and charts its gradual transformation in modern society.
Design/methodology/approach
This research focuses on the combination of a fertility rite and narratives of St Gióng based on nationalism or heroism created a special festival reflecting many traditional cultural characteristics of Vietnam and the Việt people and the transformation of St Gióng from a mythological to a national symbol of heroism in anti-invader history was recorded in texts.
Findings
The paper casts light on the mythologization and historicization of St Gióng in Vietnam’s particular historical context by decoding the Gióng symbol as a core element of the folktales and myths about St Gióng to understand the formation and development of St Gióng in the cultural history of Vietnam.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is not exploring the Gióng symbol within a larger cultural context of nationalism and ethnosymbolic approach in a comparison of national symbolism and heroism.
Practical implications
The paper includes implications for advised scholars to conduct further exploration of the symbol and myth of not only St Gióng in Vietnam but also Kubera in India and Vaisravana in China to connect Kubera, Vaisravana and St Gióng under the connection of literal myth and heroic symbol.
Social implications
The paper shows how processes of historicizing myth and mythologizing history are important features of Vietnamese socio-historical research.
Originality/value
The paper shows how a fertility rite became a historical festival and the figure of St Gióng became a symbol of patriotic heroism.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Publishers note: The publisher would like to inform readers that this article was mistakenly labelled as a regular paper instead of a special issue paper as part of a themed section called “Ethnicity, Ritual and Festivals in Asia”. This error was introduced as part of the editorial process, and the publisher sincerely apologizes for this error.
The following article was originally intended to publish as part of a themed section of AEDS 9.1 called “Ethnicity, Ritual and Festivals in Asia” guest edited by Professor Oscar Salemink and Dr Siuwoo Cheung:
Dinh, H.H. (2019), “The symbol of Saint Gióng and the Gióng festival in the historical context of Vietnam”, Asian Education and Development Studies, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 37-45. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEDS-01-2018-0015
Citation
Dinh, H.H. (2020), "The symbol of Saint Gióng and the Gióng festival in the historical context of Vietnam", Asian Education and Development Studies, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 37-45. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEDS-01-2018-0015
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited